The Inspiration Behind My Latest Novel

A little about the inspiration for my latest book, Zombie-saurus Rex, due out on Amazon December 23rd, and available for preorder now.

For a while, I lived with a teenage zombie. She was my daughter. My child is a very bright, funny, and attractive girl. And she has epilepsy, diagnosed when she was ten after having a seizure in our home. At the time, the diagnosis was heartbreaking. A kid who had everything going for her was suddenly flawed and vulnerable. We met with neurologists who described how devastating the condition can be. If left unchecked, the seizures could cause permanent brain damage or death. The good news was that there were a host of medications available to keep her condition under control.

The medicine did its job. Eight years without a seizure. But at a huge cost. It rendered my daughter dull and lethargic. One of the side effects. She staggered through life as if she’d just awakened from long hibernation. She was the personification of a zombie. Those years coincided with her junior high school and high school years. Kids can be merciless. Especially at that age range when they are trying to figure where they fit in, who they are like, and who doesn’t fit in. And she paid the price. So much so, that after her graduation when I offered to put her through college, she declined. She’d had about enough of the education system. And who could blame her?

The good news is science moves very fast these days. The list of potential drugs to treat epilepsy has grown greatly. Initially our neurologist didn’t want to change her medication. In his mind, in consideration of eight seizure-free years, it was performing beautifully. We were finally able to convince him quality of life also had to be a consideration, as life in a stupor is hardly a life.

Rex Morton, the zombie protagonist in my novel, is the personification of my daughter, trying his best to find acceptance, or at the very least, tolerance. The story looks at how he pushes through prejudice, beyond snap judgments based solely on appearance, and deals with the physical manifestation of all that – bullying. It’s not just another zombie story. It’s a story about overcoming and succeeding despite handicaps and obstacles. This one is personal.